Summer holiday
by Triela Hillshire
Summary: Triela embarks on a vacation with her handler to a retreat on an island off the Italian coast. She has little clue what Hillshire has planned in store for her


Once upon a time in Italy, there stands a pajama-clad girl in front of a window in her room. The sun shines warmly on her face through the window panes as she pulls the curtains to the sides of the window frame. She strokes her long blond pigtails.

"Good morning, Triela." the voice of her roommate comes from the bed above her bed.

Triela turns around and looked up to smile at Claes who just puts glasses on her eyes. "Ah, you're awake." Without a further word, she wastes no time taking off her pajamas and starts to get dressed up first in her fresh underwear and then in her usual attire. She proceeds to fold her pajamas and underwear, then dumps them in the laundry basket.

"Aren't you supposed to be going on your summer vacation with Mr. Hillshire?" asks Claes.

"Yes, I am." comes Triela's brusque reply.

Staring at the blonde's wearing the white long-sleeved shirt, gray vest and matching gray trousers that she almost always wore for her missions, Claes shakes her head in disbelief at her roommate's choice of vacation attire. "Then why are you wearing that mission attire? Why don't you wear something more appropriate for a vacation like..." she pauses long enough for Triela to give her a curious look. The aloof girl starts to button her vest. The raven-haired girl finished, "....a summer dress?"

The process of buttoning her vest halts suddenly. Triela's eyes widens. "A summer dress?" She knows what Claes was talking about. It is a simple dress that allows the wearer to have a cooling feeling in the middle of the summer heat. It is somewhat provocative but still conservative by most people's dress standards. "But why would I wear something that hardly warms me?"

Claes scoffs, "This is summer, not winter. You'll get hot and sweaty in a suit like that."

The blonde points out. "Hillshire is wearing his thick suit as usual."

"Well, he is a man. Besides don't you think this kind of clothing looks so unfeminine on you?"

Triela's cheeks brightens a deep red. She whirls around again. She finishes buttoning her gray vest and harrumphes, "Well, excuse me for being not a lady." Then she combs her hair slowly.

Claes smiles. She descends down from the bed and walks to her closet. "Well, let me give you a summer dress so you can wear it during the vacation." She takes the dress out of the closet for Triela to see.

Triela stares in bewilderment at the yellow, strawberry-patterned dress hanging at Claes' hands . "You have a summer dress?"

"Of course. I knew all about your fashion sense. As soon as the summer came, I ordered a summer dress via internet. I am thinking how good you will look in it"

The blonde gasps with shock. "Wait a minute. How did you buy it via internet? You're not old enough to be allowed to own a credit card."

Claes looks her in the eye and explains. "Well, I asked your handler to buy it." She notices the expression of annoyance on her friend's face. In addition, she also observes that Triela is clenching her fists and trembling.

The annoyed blonde demands, "Why the hell did you ask Hillshire to buy a dress for you?"

The eyeglasses-wearing girl answers with a smirk. "It is not for me. He bought it for you."

"Huh?" Triela drops her jaw.

Her roommate clarifies, "I explained to Mr. Hillshire that he and I should present you a nice cute summer dress since all you have are rather drab clothing for you to wear. Any summer day is too hot for you to wear a warm suit like this. He happily agreed."

"How nice of him." the irritated girl with pigtails fumes. The black-haired girl walks to Triela's luggage to unzip it.

"Hey, Claes you can't put it into my bag." Triela yells with irritation in her voice.

Claes shows the flashy dress to her roommate again. "Doesn't it look cute?"

The other turns around to the right side with long pigtails flying along. "Hmmph. Strawberries aren't my thing."

Claes sighs unhappily. "Hillshire spent a lot of money on your new dress. The least you can do for him is to wear this dress, okay?"

"Fine. Just put it in the luggage. I will wear it sometime," Triela says, sounding defeated. 'Or not' she adds her sentence with a silent thought. She straps the gun holster packed with a loaded gun on her shoulder.

"You're bringing your handgun along?" Claes says, taking notice of it.

The blonde nods. "Yeah. He refuses to let me take any sub-machine gun. But he has agreed to let me carry my handgun." By "he", she refers to her handler.

She puts on her beige coat while Claes puts the summer dress into the luggage and then zips the luggage. Then she grabs the luggage and starts to walk out of the room. "Bye, Claes. Take good care of my dolls."

"Of course. Have a good trip with Mr. Hillshire." Claes' pleasant tone of voice annoys Triela once more. Nevertheless, that girl is both a good friend and roommate to her, She often appreciates Claes' company but not always.

Walking all the way out of the dormitory, Triela spots her handler by his car. She announces in front of him. "Good morning, Hillshire. I am ready to go."

"Good morning." he greets back. He adds a comment. "Today is hot, isn't it?"

"Is that why you have bought a summer dress for you?"

He smiles, much to her chagrin. "So Claes gave you my present. Yes, Sunlight is good for your skin. Sweat is bad for a young cute girl like you."

The girl's cheeks blushes the moment he says the word "cute".

"Triela, your face is as red as a beet."

She turns her head to the left side. "Nothing. The heat is getting to me."

"That's why you need to wear....ah.... a more cooling clothing."

She replies, "Hillshire, I am fine. Besides, your car has air-conditioning." She adds, pointing to his matching black jacket and trousers "In addition, you are also wearing such a thick suit on a hot summer day as usual."

"I know. It is my habit."

Triela decides to change the subject. "I am surprised you've asked me to go along with you on a summer vacation."

Hillshire raises an eyebrow. "What is surprising about it? We are fratello, after all. Besides I think you deserve a good rest for your contributions to the Agency."

"Right." she sighs as she moves around the front side of the car and climbs into the passenger seat. Once her companion follows inside, he starts the car. Before the car makes an exit off the campus grounds, the girl takes a last look at the dormitory. Her only thought is that she wonders whether she can be a normal girl when she is taking leisure time with her handler. She takes a deep breath and rests her head on the back, but pays attention to the street on which they are driving.

She hears him speak, "Oh, you can take a nap now since it will take 3 hours to the island."

"The island where Henrietta, Rico and their handlers went to?"

"Yes but you've never been there."

She looks at him once more and says questioningly "Have you?"

He shakes his head. "No. but Giuseppe says it is a very good vacation place."

She gives no reply. She simply looks again straight at the road and wonders, 'I don't see much point in this. I am not exactly a normal girl after all.'

"What do you think we will do?"

"What?" she raises her eyebrow at him.

"Triela, what do you think we are going to do on our vacation?"

"Taking a rest at an inn on the island, right?"

"Is that all you've thought about, hmmm?"

"Eh?" She responds. He says nothing but she notices some kind of smile appear on his face.

At first she thinks it was her imagination but that smile looks a bit wicked. She can't help but have a feeling that Hillshire has planned something unexpected, something she isn't prepared for. The prospect doesn't feel creepy, yet she feels anxious about it. She almost doesn't notice she is fidgeting with her right pigtail.

"What music do you like?" the German man asks flatly.

"What?" Triela blinks and turns to him.

"What music do you like?" he repeats.

"I don't have a preference for music."

"You don't have a favourite singer, do you? Not Britney Spears?" he says, nearly laughing.

"Hmph. That old hag is overrated." she snorts.

Hillshire turns on the radio and Triela hears a familiar song. She knows it is Frank Sinatra's song.

"Sinatra's songs are classic." he says. The music continues on and neither says anything.

The car ride seems longer than she anticipated.


End file.
